'63 CJ6 Perkins Rebuild

Is this the original side of the 6 as you purchased it? The "JEEP" logo appears to be of later vintage on the drivers side but not the passenger. I wonder if it was repaired there for some reason in the mid 70's or thereabouts? It's interesting all the little details....My 66 has no reverse lights or cutouts for them and also no side reflectors. I would have thought mine would have those as mine seems to be later vintage than yours but maybe not. It's fun having them to compare.

 

I believe the driver side panel was replaced probably sometime in the 70's. This was one of the things I investigated before I bought it. Based on the lack of vin info out there, I guess that the vintage is a 1965 based on a stack of license plated crudely screwed into the front bumper.

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It does have the reverse light holes but someone could have drilled them in. It does have a side reflector but only on the drivers side. It's awesome to have someone active on here to compare my notes with!

Here's the vin tag;

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Can you post your tag here or on your thread?

I think you said your 5 has the 2/3 driver's seat. Mine does too....

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Oh, finally a significant update. I'm picking up a half cab in PA on Jan 5th while I'm out that way visiting family.

It looks to be in near pristine shape. The fella I'm buying it from had packed it away and stored it in a dry place.

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Includes the doors.....

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It includes all the hardware too! 8)

I've searched quite a while to find a half cab. I like the patina just the way it is and have no plans on making it all shiny.

 

it has a later tailgate too..........

 

"I like the patina just the way it is and have no plans on making it all shiny."

I agree looks great!

 

Wow, you have no idea how jealous i am of your project! Nice find on the half cab! I've lusted after one of those for a looong time, and to see the great condition that one is in, wow!

 

That's a great find on the half cab!

According to Jim Allen's illustrated Jeep buyers guide the VIN type on yours was used from 55-63. 57758 indicates CJ-6 diesel. From 1964 on the vin prefix changed to 8410 for a diesel 6. "84"= CJ-6 and "10" indicates open body diesel. Mine has the 8410 prefix. The rest is sequential #'s starting from 10001 in 1961 which means yours was # 176 produced. Hard to tell exactly what year it is though. Records are sketchy at best after 62 but it indicates 1962 model started with 10029 for the sequential numbers. My guess would be that yours is a 63 going by the numbers and the style of VIN. Mine is titled 66 and uses the later VIN designation. The book indicates the diesel was available through 69 but if that's true I don't guess many were sold or produced after 66. The V-6 option and jeepster commando both would have cut seriously into sales of both the Perkins and the CJ-6 which weren't big sellers anyway. If you get the book it states there are obvious descrepancies in the different sources but Kaiser apparently sucked at keeping good records..... yay for us! It's pretty much "N/A" for the diesel after 1962 as far as numbers produced goes. Mine is # 449 so at least that many were produced.

Oh....And yes, mine has the same seat configuration as yours. 2/3 driver, 1/3 passenger. Mine also has a standard back seat.

 

Hey thanks for your kind words! At least the half cab won't require much in the way of work. The body of the 6 is an entirely different story. This is going to be a long road so don't be too jealous!!

 

Thanks Mitch. The 1/2 cab was more than I wanted to spend, but I searched a long time and these are becoming harder to come by. I'm still facing a couple thousand bucks before this thing sees the trail and I'm buying a @%^*! 1/2 cab??

My back up plan was to buy a CJ5 1/2 cab and shorten it.

I was waffling between this one being a 63 or a 64 but based on what you're saying, I won't change the name of my thread here. A couple of years ago I invested a fair amount of time to figure out what year it was and more or less ended up at the same place!

I'd really like to see a pic of the back seat and where exactly how and where it's mounted. Feel free to post here if you can/want.

Pete

 

I think it's just a standard CJ-5/6 back seat. It's actually the same seat that is in my flatfender but I believe that seat originally came from my dad's Tuxedo Park. The two front feet slip under straps bolted to the floor and then spring loaded pins go into a hole in the same type of strap in the back. I'll grab some pictures when I have a chance. The back seat is currently in the garage. I drove the 6 to work today because I have a guy picking up a pair of 7.3L powerstroke heads and I didn't want to put them in my mustang and the truck is still hooked to the flatbed with an FC-150 on it and the bed is full of stuff..... Only made sense to haul them in the back of the 6...lol.

I would have figured that the half cab would have been the same between a CJ-5 and a CJ-6. Or were you talking about shortening a full CJ-5 hardtop? You have to pick these things up when they present themselves.....Parts aren't all that easy to find and you may think you paid a premium but how much would you have had to put into a cheaper one including your time? I'm glad I have the full hard top. It works better for me with my girlfriend, her son and the two big dogs. I'll probably take it off in the summer if the weather looks like it will be decent for awhile. I plan to get a cage in it at some point too.

 

Does yours have a Tach/hour meter in the dash?

 

Seriously.....:drool::drool:

No, mine does not! Need a closer pic!

 

I'm sure it's got to be mechanical and picks the RPM's from the cam.

 

That's a darn good question......It works so I haven't even looked into how. It does bounce alot much like one on a tractor does so I'm sure it is one common to tractors. It's definitely not a bubba install. I have an ammeter and oil pressure gauge on the left side of the steering wheel too. Decent install on those also but they aren't matching gauges which makes me think either both are add ons or one was replaced at some point. The only thing I want to modify there is to add a light to each. I can't see any of them at night except the speedo because none of the aux gauges have lights in them......

 

Check to see if there is a tach sensor on the front of the engine. If not, I'd look to see if it's picking it up off the alternator/generator. On the 4-108, I think they may have had a speedometer cable running off the oil pump, that might explain the jumpiness you are seeing.

 

Now that you mention it, there is what appears to be a speedo cable directly off the back of the motor that I haven't traced.. That may be what drives the tach. I know the actual speedo cable comes off the T-case as usual.

 

I did a quick search on eBay and found several similar gauges from that time period. There's some really nice used NOS units.

For instance;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-New-AC-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item58a7ef3e2a&vxp=mtr

This one was made by SW for White. It's used and missing the retainer but is backlit;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tac...Parts_Accessories&hash=item4617072716&vxp=mtr

They appear to all be mechanical (as opposed to a fuel line pulse or a sensor on the alternator. No problem getting a period gauge, I think the trick is to get the right cable.

 

I wonder if this would work:

http://www.amazon.com/Products-Tachometer-PERKINS-DIESEL-Replacement/dp/B00BW666NQ